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Society for American Baseball Research
The Society for American Baseball Research was established in Cooperstown, New York, in August of 1971. The Society's mission is to foster the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball while generating interest in the game. Bob Davids established the organization, and the 1st meeting included 16 pioneer members (including Davids) and one observer. SABR, which is pronounced "saber" and whose acronym led to the creation of the word sabermetrics (the usage of mathematical tools to analyze baseball), is about much more than statistics. Members include not only "sabermetricians" Bill James (perhaps the best known SABR member to the general public) and Rob Neyer but also other people active in the baseball world such as Keith Olbermann, Roland Hemond and Bob Costas. Jeff Bajenaru is believed to be the only active player with a SABR membership; Elden Auker, Larry Dierker and Andy Seminick also have been involved. Some of the more noted members include SABR founder Bob Davids (deceased), Bob McConnell (researcher-deluxe), Cliff Kachline (historian) (died 6/28/2010), Pete Palmer (encyclopedist), Art Schott (historian), Dave Smith (retrosheet), Dave Vincent (home run log), Larry Lester (Negro Leagues), Bill Carle (Biographical Committee), Frank Phelps (Bibliographical Committee) (died 1/4/2010), Lyle Spatz (Records Committee), and David Nemec (prolific author). Marc Appleman is currently Executive Director. Only a minority of members pursue "number crunching" research. Rather, SABR offers a community of fans organized in two ways. Research Committees study a particular issue. Regional Chapters are for members in geographic proximity. They are frequently named after baseball personalities relevant to the region. SABR members also keep in touch through online directories and listservs set up through the central SABR office, which is based in Cleveland, Ohio. The central office also maintains a number of research tools on its website, including a lending library, home run and triple play logs, and course syllabi related to the game. SABR offers an annual convention to its members at a different site each year. The conference generally includes panel discussions, research presentations, city-specific tourism, a ballgame and an awards banquet. It also sponsors a literary conference in Cleveland and a Negro Leagues conference, held in a different location each year. Over 600 members and guests attend every national convention. The 2006 convention was held in Seattle, Washington from with former Major League Baseball pitcher and author Jim Bouton as the keynote speaker. The 2007 convention was held in St. Louis, Missouri and featured Joe Garagiola as the luncheon speaker. The 2008 convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio and featured Mark Shapiro as the luncheon speaker. The 2009 convention was held at Washington D.C. and featured MLB lobbyist Josh Alkin as the luncheon speaker. The 2010 Convention (SABR-40) will be held in Atlanta, Georgia from August 5-8, 2010. Research Committees *Asian Baseball *Ballparks *Baseball and the Armed Forces *Baseball Records *Bibliography *Biographical Research *BioProject *Business of Baseball *Collegiate Baseball *Deadball Era (1900-1919) *Latin America *Minor Leagues *Music and Poetry *Negro Leagues *19th Century *Oral History *Origins *Pictorial History *Science *Scouts *Spring Training *Statistics *Umpires *Women in Baseball *Retrosheet Regional chapters *Allan Roth - Los Angeles, California *Auker-Seminick - Orlando, Florida *Bob Broeg - St. Louis, Missouri *Bob Davids - Washington, D.C. *Bobby Thomson - England *SABRBoston - Boston, Massachusetts *Bresnahan-Mud Hens - Toledo, Ohio *Carolina - North Carolina *Casey Stengel - New York City *Connie Mack - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania *Dayton, Ohio *Don Lund - Ann Arbor, Michigan *Elysian Fields - Northern New Jersey *Emil Rothe - Chicago, Illinois *Field of Dreams - Iowa *Flip Valentini- Louisville *Flame Delhi - Phoenix, Arizona *Forbes Field - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania *Ford-Harrelson - Long Island, New York *Gardner-Waterman - Vermont *Hall-Ruggles - Dallas, Texas *Halsey Hall - Minnesota *Hanlan's Point - Toronto *Hoyt-Allen - Cincinnati, Ohio *Jack Graney - Cleveland, Ohio *Jesse Burkett - Worcester, Massachusetts *Jim O'Rourke - Bridgeport, Connecticut *Ken Keltner - Wisconsin *Larry Dierker - Houston, Texas *Leatherstocking - Cooperstown, New York *Lefty O'Doul - San Francisco, California *Lou Criger - South Bend, Indiana *Magnolia - Atlanta, Georgia *Monarchs - Kansas City, Missouri *Montreal *Nap Lajoie - Providence, Rhode Island *NWSABR - Seattle, Washington *Orlando Cepeda - San Juan, Puerto Rico *Oscar Charleston - Indianapolis, Indiana *Pee Wee Reese - Louisville, Kentucky *Rabbit Maranville - Springfield, Massachusetts *Robinson-Kell - Little Rock, Arkansas *Rocky Mountain SABR - Denver, Colorado *Rogers Hornsby - Austin, Texas *Sacramento, California *Schott-Pelican - New Orleans, Louisiana *Seymour-Mills - Southwest Florida *Smoky Joe Wood - Hartford, Connecticut *South Carolina *South Florida - Miami, Florida *Ted Williams - San Diego, California *Tennessee - Nashville, Tennessee *Tokyo *Wade Boggs - Tampa, Florida *Wally Pipp - Western Michigan *West Texas - Abilene, Texas *Westchester Baseball Group - Westchester County, New York Past convention sites and featured speakers *1971 Cooperstown, New York *1972 Washington, D.C. *1973 Chicago, Illinois *1974 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania *1975 Boston, Massachusetts, Joe Dugan *1976 Chicago, Illinois, Lew Fonseca *1977 Columbus, Ohio *1978 Paramus, New Jersey, Tony Lupien *1979 St. Louis, Missouri, Mike Shannon *1980 Los Angeles, California, Roy Smalley *1981 Toronto, Ontario, Canada *1982 Baltimore, Maryland, Sparky Anderson *1983 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Hal Goodenough *1984 Providence, Rhode Island, Lou Gorman *1985 Oakland, California, Roy Eisenhardt *1986 Chicago, Illinois, Bill Gleason *1987 Washington, D.C., John Steadman *1988 Minneapolis, Minnesota, Andy MacPhail *1989 Albany, New York, Bobby Brown *1990 Cleveland, Ohio, Sam McDowell *1991 New York City, Mel Allen *1992 St. Louis, Missouri, Bing Devine *1993 San Diego, California, Dick Williams *1994 Arlington, Texas, Robin Roberts *1995 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Chuck Tanner *1996 Kansas City, Missouri, Don Fehr *1997 Louisville, Kentucky, Jim Bunning *1998 San Mateo, California, Bill Rigney *1999 Scottsdale, Arizona, Tommy Henrich *2000 West Palm Beach, Florida, Elden Auker *2001 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Bud Selig *2002 Boston, Massachusetts *2003 Denver, Colorado, Jim Evans *2004 Cincinnati, Ohio, Marvin Miller *2005 Toronto, Paul Godfrey *2006 Seattle, Washington, Jim Bouton *2007 St. Louis, Missouri, Joe Garagiola *2008 Cleveland, Ohio Mark Shapiro *2009 Washington, D.C. Josh Alkin (MLB lobbyist) *2010 Atlanta, Georgia Jjohn Schuerholz *2011 Los Angeles, California *2012 Minneapolis, Minnesota External links *Society for American Baseball Research Official Site **SABR's BioProject committee, whose goal is to write in-depth biographies of every MLB player See also *Baseball statistics Category:Baseball statistics Category:Baseball culture Category:Baseball media Category:History of baseball